flysch

[ flish ]

noun

, Geology.

1. an association of certain types of marine sedimentary rocks characteristic of deposition in a foredeep.

Flysch

/ flɪʃ /

noun

1. sometimes not capital a marine sedimentary facies consisting of a sequence of sandstones, conglomerates, marls, shales, and clays that were formed by erosion during a period of mountain building and subsequently deformed as the mountain building continued. The phenomenon was first observed in the Alps

Word History and Origins

Origin of flysch¹

1845–55; < German < Swiss German flīsch referring to such deposits in the Swiss Alps; perhaps akin to Swabian dial. flins slate (akin to flint )

Word History and Origins

Origin of flysch¹

Swiss German

Example Sentences

Later, Dunn and Luis Chiappe, the Natural History Museum’s head of research and collections, hiked down the flysch to get a closer look.

From Los Angeles Times

Zumaia’s flysch — the geologic term for this kind of rock formation — is not the only flysch on Earth.

From Los Angeles Times

But it is by wide agreement the very best flysch of all.

From Los Angeles Times

It is actually a cluster of many tiny villages embowered by the Alps to the north and the Adriatic to the south, each photogenically situated upon soft-rolled hilltops and flysch soil, with a unique terroir that has been named one of the best in the world for white wine.

From The Guardian

A glacial origin has been suggested for numerous other conglomeratic formations, such as the Pre-Cambrian Torridonian of Scotland, and “Geisaschichten” of Norway; the basal Carboniferous conglomerate of parts of England; the Permian breccias of England and parts of Europe; the Trias of Devonshire; the coarse conglomerates in the Tertiary Flysch in central Europe; and the Miocene conglomerates of the Ligurian Apennines.

From Project Gutenberg